


Don't You Worry Child

by Fox_the_Hermit



Series: Heaven has a plan for you [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Scars, Time Travel, dragon!ichigo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 07:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17300366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fox_the_Hermit/pseuds/Fox_the_Hermit
Summary: There's only one way to fix it all, make sure the only scars left by their terrible, terrible war are the ones his bears.(To make sure he can see Kisuke smile again.)He has to go back, for all of them.(He has to make sure Kisuke will be well, will never be scarred or touched or hurt.)Even if he has to do it as a sixty-foot-long rage lizard.





	Don't You Worry Child

**Author's Note:**

> UraIchi Prompt Challenge #2 - Scar and Smile

Ichigo has no idea where he is.

Well, it’s a forest, and it’s Soul Society, which narrows it down about… not at all, actually.

Seireitei is somewhere in the distance, probably, which his utter inability to detect reiatsu isn’t helping him find.

Kisuke said he’d end up somewhere close to him. To the past version of Kisuke. They’d planned for it, tried to pick a good time, one of the early years of Kisuke being a prison warden. But this is not near Muken, and it’s no Seireitei, and Kisuke never said anything about ever being on a mission _this_ far away into the furthest-off districts of Rukongai. If this place even counts as still being part of the city.

Shaking his head, Ichigo concentrates.

There. A faint connection, a pull - leading down. Under the ground?

What the hell.

The connection - the one that’s supposed to be to Kisuke - is _definitely_ leading down. Not far - whatever the space underground is, it’s not hidden deep. Not like it needs to be, considering it’s already in the middle of fuckass-nowhere.

If it’s a room, and he starts digging at the ceiling, it might collapse, burying Kisuke.

Ichigo frowns, and shifts, stretching - and a large, bat-like wing tears through the ward dome around him like it’s so much spiderweb.

And that reiatsu, there - that’s Aizen’s, definitely.

What the _hell_.

Kisuke never mentioned anything like this.

Well. No time like the present to find out what the fuck is going on.

Picking a spot a bit further from where the link is pulling him, Ichigo starts to dig, earth giving way easily. Hopefully, it’ll be another room that caves, not Kisuke’s one.

At least there’s some benefit to being an over-sized lizard now.

His claws tear through rock - a ceiling - and then the earth collapses in under him. Part of him, anyway, and then there’s the awkward feeling where his hind legs are still on the surface, and his front are in the ruins of what seems like a lab.

And there’s a thin wooden wall separating _this_ room, and the one where Kisuke is. He pokes his head through it, wood splintering into dust. And stares.

They’d overshot.

They’d _really_ overshot.

Because the Kisuke before him wasn’t a hundred and fifty odd years old. Wasn’t even a hundred and forty - the time they’d planned for in case they missed the planned point.

The tiny child in the room looks like a ten, maybe eleven-year-old human. A hundred and ten in soul years, then, no more. And he’s also injured and shackled to the wall.

“Hello,” Ichigo tries, and is gratified to hear that his rumbling voice still sounds like his own. He wouldn’t have put it past Kisuke to have changed something last minute to make things more _interesting_.

The kid stares at him, silent, and- Ichigo focuses on the bond that serves as his anchorpoint in this time, still new, still weak, and feels _apprehension_. Which, okay, a giant lizard did just break into this place and say hello to him.

“Can you… get out of the chains? Or something?”

Kid-Kisuke shakes his head.

Hm.

His claws aren’t really meant for fine work - but he manages to sever the chains from the walls, at least, cutting through them like butter despite their enchantments. To his credit, the kid barely flinches.

“What- what are you?” The kid whispers hoarsely, head bowed, not looking at Ichigo. When is the last time he had something to drink?

The original plan was to tell Kisuke the truth - the main stuff about time travel from the get-go, some personal details as proof, and then the rest of it later.

But this _kid-_

He doesn’t need the weight of the worlds on his shoulders, the fate of everyone’s lives in his hands. He needs _help_. He needs a guardian.

Right. To hell with the plan.

“I’m your Zanpakuto spirit. I’m here to protect you.”

* * *

Thank fuck Kisuke made sure Ichigo knew how to fly in this form before sending him back, because the journey back would have taken forever on foot.

As it is, it’s barely been - an hour or two, maybe, and he’s already fast approaching Seireitei, his shadow trailing over the Rukongai districts bellow - and the faint sound of people screaming reaching his ears.

They probably think he’s some sort of Hollow.

Right, he should probably like… knock on the Seireitei’s gate first, so the Shinigami don’t try to kill him.

He changes his angle, starting to head down in large, lazy circles - and feels the kid tense up, clinging even more desperately to Ichigo’s mane.

He must be cold - there were some spare clothes in the lab, but they looked thin, an inadequate protection from the cold at this height.

“I’m not going to dive down,” he says, just in case the kid hadn’t realised yet. “You don’t need to hold on that hard.”

His Kisuke had said that they’d be able to communicate mentally - but either something was wrong… or the kid simply couldn’t access his Inner World yet. Probably the latter.

The white wall has already come crashing down by the time he lands, and the top of it is lined with Shinigami, but he doesn’t care. Unless a captain starts slinging kido or long-distance Bankai abilities, they shouldn’t even be able to do anything to him.

He frowns at the gate.

It _does_ look just like normal wood… probably wouldn’t be a bother to replace, _really_ , if they know what they’re doing.

He can totally blast a hole through it, right?

He inhales. It’s not the air he needs, but it’s so much easier to focus the power at the base of his throat, and then-

_Boom._

It’s a small blast, really, just making a him-sized hole in the wood, sending cracks running higher into the gate. He sees small flares of wards where he had shattered them.

Okay, not just a wooden gate.

Still, should be pretty fixable, right?

If he was a Vasto Lorde trying to get in, that door would have been in much worse condition - he was just highlighting the weaknesses in their defenses; surely they won’t mind?

A giant lizard with apparently rage issues shouldn’t concern them too much. Wasn’t Hyorinmaru essentially the same, minus being manifested in the real world?

Kisuke’s terrified inhale as Ichigo pokes his head through the wall to be met with a wall of reiatsu reminds him that he’s got to be careful.

He has enough reiatsu to shrug off plenty of attacks - but the _kid_ doesn’t, and if Ichigo’s power fails to protect him...

Ichigo looks at the Shinigami arrayed in rows before the gate, two captains standing at the front, looking serious and battle-ready.

Shinji, his hair ridiculously long, and Shunsui, looking the same as ever.

“Sorry for barging in, the gate was closed.”

The Shinigami all tense up as his voice rumbles across the open space.

“Can anyone point me in the direction of the Fourth Division?”

* * *

Kisuke doesn’t know what to think.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, fragmented memories mesh and break apart, trying to sort themselves out from- from whatever it was that that Shinigami had been doing to his head. Somewhere, everything _hurts_ and he wants to hide and run and he’s so very, very scared.

But he must focus, he’s been taught that no matter what - his pain doesn’t matter, his mission must come first.

Except he’s not on a mission, he’s-

He breathes out, and clutches at the mane, the weight of the rising reiatsu around him crushing him.

The dragon said he was his Zanpakuto spirit - and Kisuke doesn’t know if that’s true or not, he’s never been allowed to handle as much as an asauchi, he has no idea how this is supposed to work - but he can feel a _connection_ , can feel a well of immense power that’s just out of his reach.

And Ichigo-sama’s rescued him, when Kisuke wanted nothing more than to be saved.

Except now he’s broken into Seireitei to get Kisuke medical help as soon as possible, not even remotely phased by the fact that he is being confronted by two captains at once. Surely, he has to know what they are?

Why is he risking a fight for Kisuke?

Kisuke’s weak, he knows it. He can never hope to ever have enough power to get even to fourth seat. He’ll never be _strong_. His handler has told him that enough times.

How can this spirit stand in the presence of two captains ready to fight, and not even _flinch_ from their power? How did Kisuke manage to call on someone so _strong_?

“And why are you looking for the Fourth Division?”

It’s one of the captains speaking, probably, but Kisuke can’t even lift his head to check. He sounds wary - and for good reason.

Captain-class individuals that are neither captains nor heads of noble houses are hard to come by. Especially in the forms of giant, gate-shattering dragons.

“My shinigami needs medical attention.” Ichigo-sama shifts, turning his neck - and Kisuke manages not so much lift his head, as turn it, to catch a glimpse of the two captains looking at him. He doesn’t recognise the blond one, but the other one is captain of the Eighth.

“Your shinigami?” asks the blond, not lowering his sword.

“I’m a Zanpakuto spirit. He’s my shinigami.”

There’s something strangely- _nice_ about knowing that a massive dragon has decided that Kisuke’s worth having. Worth protecting, because surely nothing Kisuke could ever do would rival his spirit’s power, could ever pay back this favour.

The captains exchange looks.

Their reiatsu doesn’t feel hostile, not anymore - well, it’s not like the spirit is a Hollow, after all.

“Which division?”

“Second.”

There’s a ripple of surprise in the air at that, and Kisuke shivers, hiding his face as much as he can.

But his hair stands out too much, he knows it does - what would his handler say about this? About drawing so much _attention_?

“We’ll escort you there.”

Doesn’t Ichigo-sama know that he is only allowed to be treated by his own division’s healers, if he’s supposed to be able to access Kisuke’s memories? Kisuke knows that much about Zanpakuto. They know everything you do.

What is Ichigo-sama doing?

The reiatsu pressure eases, and Kisuke sits up a little straighter, as Ichigo follows the blond captain - and the other one walks beside them, watching Kisuke curiously out of the corner of his eye.

Kisuke bows his head and says nothing.

* * *

When they get there, they’re greeted by another captain - Unohana-taicho, Kisuke knows _her_ name at least, and wants the ground to swallow him whole.

Being the center of attention of three captains in one day, and a whole crowds of gawping unseated officers. This day couldn’t get- no, once they got to the Shihouin compound, the day _would_ get so much worse.

He was kidnapped, he went MIA, now he’s drawing _attention_ \- his handler will punish him for all this, if not worse.

“Good morning, Unohana-taicho,” Ichigo greets her, and lowers his head - Kisuke can’t tell if it’s a bow, or just giving Kisuke the opportunity to get off his neck and stand on his own.

“Good morning. May I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance, and that of your companion?” She sounds… polite, at least - but Kisuke can’t read anything from her reiatsu, still as a pond in winter, reflecting everything and revealing nothing.

“I am a Zanpakuto spirit.” Ichigo-sama pauses, looking at Kisuke expectantly, and Kisuke is met with the horrible realisation that he’s expected to speak now.

“This one’s name is Urahara Kisuke, Unohana-taicho. It is an honour to meet you.” His voice is too quiet, too quavering to be properly respectful, and he keeps his head bowed, not daring to look at her.

“I assume you’re here for healing?”

She’s in front of him now, and he chances a glance at her face through his fringe. She’s smiling - but that doesn’t make her _feel_ any less terrifying.

Kisuke hopes like hell that Ichigo-sama knows what he’s doing with all of- this.

 

* * *

There’s an inner courtyard at the Fourth Division compound, which is _awesome_ because at this point Ichigo’s not going to let Kisuke out of his sight. Preferably at all. Ever again. But Unohana examining him in front of a whole crowd of spectators wouldn’t be great for anyone - and there’s not many places inside the compound that would fit Ichigo.

He flops down along one side of the courtyard, lowering his head to the ground and closing his eyes, while Unohana gives Kisuke a physical exam, cataloguing and recording everything - and tries to block it out.

It’s none of his business what Aizen had been doing - experiment-wise, memory-kido-wise, or personal-entertainment-wise. And he doesn’t _want_ to know anything the kid would be uncomfortable sharing with him.

The reiatsu of the occasional Onmi member sparks nearby, as they arrive and depart. Reporting on the situation to their superiors, no doubt.

This’ll probably be one clusterfuck and a half for them, this will.

Stronger reiatsu signatures hover around the edges of the compound - curious lieutenants and captains, no doubt already aware of the massive manifested Zanpakuto spirit that blasted a hole in the gate and dragged in an Onmitsukido operative.

Well.

The more attention, the less the Onmi would want to even _try_ sweeping Kisuke under the rug. Or into Muken.

And like fuck Ichigo will let anything happen to the kid, even if he’ll have to personally fight half the Gotei again.

In the meantime- he knows shit about the situation right now.

His Kisuke had said the bond would enable memory-sharing.

Time to see if that works at all.

* * *

“Urahara Kisuke is to stand in front of his handler and the Shihouin elders to determine what shall be done with him.”

The messenger looks like he’s not sure whether to address that statement to Ichigo, Kisuke, or Unohana, who had smiled sweetly when told to leave, and done nothing of the sort.

“When?”

“Due to the security issues raised by the possibility of the disclosure of highly confidential information to an enemy, the meeting will be held shortly, within the court chamber.”

Ichigo doesn’t need to look at the kid right now to feel how _scared_ he is.

Kisuke hadn’t said very much about his early days in the Onmi. He hadn’t said much about the Onmi at all, really, when he could avoid it.

And after sifting through just a tiny portion of the kid’s recollections, Ichigo understand why Kisuke hadn’t wanted to share.

Because then he’d have intentionally tried to return to an even earlier time.

* * *

The man that greets them throws a look that is a curious mix of disparaging and intimidated at Ichigo, before turning to speak to Kisuke.

“Your Zanpakuto spirit will not fit within the halls and corridors of the building, and as such will have to remain outside the compound for the duration of your trial.”

Hah.

Like fuck is Ichigo going to leave the kid alone.

“Indeed, that's a nice place you got there, Shihouin-san. Would be a shame if anything... _happened_ to it. Perhaps this meeting should take place _outside_?”

And he flares a tiny portion of his reiatsu, not high enough to make anyone fall to their knees - hopefully - but enough to hint at what, exactly, might happen to the building.

His Kisuke would have despaired over his complete lack of subtlety.

The thought is almost enough to make Ichigo smile.

* * *

Ichigo divides the people that question Kisuke into three categories.

The handful of elders, seemingly more interested in the development of his Zanpakuto power over anything else, eyeing Ichigo with much interest.

The Onmi members that coldly and harshly grill him on anything and everything that the kid can remember from the last week - the answers to which are mostly along the lines of “not much,” “torture,” and “I can’t remember.”

And the kid’s handler - mentor, even - who deserves a whole category just by himself. Apparently the Asshole is in charge of the Onmi at the moment.

Who looks like Ichigo’s mere existence is a personal offense against him.

He narrows his eyes at him. What’s _his_ problem?

He can sense Yoruichi watching from the back of the courtyard that everyone else had so gracefully agreed to host the questioning in, after Ichigo immolated a wall. Accidentally, of course.

“To pay off his debts to the Shihouin, Urahara Kisuke will serve in the Onmitsukidou until such time as he will be physically incapable of doing so. That is without question. However, with his clear lack of anything resembling _competence_ , and the potential betrayal of the Shihouin secrets, I suggest execution as-”

In front of him, Kisuke is kneeling demurely on the floor, head bowed. Not even thinking of arguing, of trying to stand up for himself. Ichigo can feel that he’s- not even so much given up, as not even considered fighting in the first place. Probably because he has no authority, no power, no worth. Nothing to make anyone listen.

He briefly entertains the thought of just kidnapping Kisuke and hiding out in either the mortal world or Hueco Mundo until Ichigo finds Aizen, and snuffs him.

But no. They need to stay here.

“No.”

The Asshole stares.

The elders murmur, and Ichigo can see Yoruichi being held back by an older woman. She’s not the Head of House, not yet, she can’t actually intervene in this.

“You impertinent-”

“This child has clearly been the victim of experiments on power development, not the victim of interrogation,” says the oldest, most wrinkled woman Ichigo has ever seen, and the Asshole falls silent. “And with the kind of Zanpakuto spirit that has been created within him - he would be an _incredible_ asset to our clan, to the Gotei, and to our world. It takes years to attain shikai, years more to even attempt manifesting a Zanpakuto spirit, and yet this child has achieved that without even an asauchi.

“There are few that have potential to grasp the power of a captain - fewer that have as much _intellectual_ promise. We should not waste this gift, even if we cannot utilise it as you would prefer. And for now - what better guard for the heir of our House?”

“This child has been an even greater security risk. Execution- or at the very least, a continued presence in the Onmi in the lowest ranks, would be the fitting punishment for his lack of caution and diligence-”

“No,” Ichigo says. “He won’t be executed. Or working for you ever again.”

The man looks furious. “He has-”

Hm. The Asshole seems already to have forgotten that he’s currently dealing with sixty feet of rage lizard, and not one of his subordinates.

Ichigo yawns, showing every single one of his teeth, idly stretches his wings, and swishes his tail just enough to brush it against the walls.

“ _I_ _said_ _no_.”

That kind of ends up being the last word on the matter.

There’s no room available that can comfortably host both Kisuke and his spirit - so that night they don’t even try sleeping inside. And he’s been kicked out of his former quarters, for good measure. But there’s enough space in the garden for Ichigo-sama to curl up like so much reptilian winged cat, leaving space for Kisuke to lie down in the curve of his neck with a blanket.

The copper-edged black scales are warm - and solid as armour. And there’s a scar, running down the neck and across the chest, a broken line of bright copper in the scales.

Kisuke doesn’t ask. He’s not sure if he’s allowed - how is one supposed to treat their spirit, anyway? Especially one as formidable as this?

Ichigo-sama is very… forgiving of his deficiencies in terms of power, lack of status, and the failure of Kisuke’s latest and last mission. What went through his head when he threatened his mentor and risked having the elders turn against him, Kisuke will never understand. Unless Ichigo-sama has enough power that even their combined might would have been as bothersome as gnats, and _all_ _this_ has been a very insignificant favour for him to grant.

But how long will they be tolerated?

How long until Ichigo-sama realises that the power he offers to Kisuke is far too much, that it’s all a _waste_ on him? That this investment will never pay off?

How long until he will not be safe from his mentor’s disappointment?

The large amber eye watching him blinks, and then closes. Do Zanpakuto spirits need sleep, too?

The dragon shifts around him, wrapping his wings around them both, creating a warm, safe shelter.

Kisuke dozes off to the faint thrum of a great, rhythmic heartbeat around him, power greater than he’s ever imagined flowing around him. Through him.

 

* * *

Sluggishly, he drifts awake.

Thinking hurts - thoughts feel… slow. Disorganised.

 _Everything_ hurts, really.

His limbs are heavy. Immovable. Every joint feels _shattered._

His reiryoku feels wrong. Too saturated, too full, too _much_ , like his skin will crack and start bleeding _power_ if he moves.

He tries to whisper, but his throat is locked up.

Something is moving around him, shifting, and a sense of urgency-not-his-own trickles through him. He’s being picked up, carried.

A cold hand rests on his forehead. He realises he’s burning up, everything far too hot. A fever? An illness?

He reaches out into the darkness, until his hand brushes against smooth scales. Ichigo-sama.

There’s voices - a rumbling, draconic one. Someone else - barely familiar. Another one - Yoruichi.

He opens his eyes - and the light hurts, everything swims, but he can make out the faint outline of Yoruichi on one side, and Ichigo-sama on the other.

“-his body can’t handle the power of sustaining the spirit, the development was too accelerated-”

He feels a foreign panic, a worry - but it’s not his, he can’t focus enough to panic.

What is happening?

* * *

Ichigo twitches his tail restlessly, swishing it from side to side. He has time, now, nothing but time, and there’s nothing he can do to spend it but wait.

And he hates waiting.

Yoruichi, also in the room, looks just as restless.

Lying like this, still and pale, the kid looks far too much like the Kisuke Ichigo knew. Just without the long scars criss-crossing his face. The souvenirs left from one of the early skirmishes in the war with Aizen, when Kisuke fought a resurrected Grimmjow and too many other Arrancar, the other Shinigami dealing with an influx of Menos, and got his face clawed up.

It’s odd, too, to not see the ragged scar across his throat, a souvenir left by a Hollowfied Soi-Fon.

There’s other scars missing, too - some that Ichigo never heard the stories about, that were before the war.

But some scars are already there - a trailing mark on his left forearm, a nick by his temple usually hidden by the hair.

Ichigo’s missing his own fair share of scars. The combination of transformations, the experiments to achieve this form… Hollow regeneration combined with expert healing was truly a terrifying combo. If not as terrifying as the Hogyoku was. There’s just the one scar left, really, right across his chest, that not even his Hollow powers had been able to touch. Or maybe he’d just wanted to keep it, deep inside.

He knows, even if Kisuke never said it, that he had regretted not Hollowfying himself. Maybe the additional power would have helped. Maybe they wouldn’t have had to do this.

Before it had been too late, before Aizen had fought him face-to-face. Kisuke survived the confrontation. But his soul sleep was damaged, terribly so, enough to render him useless in combat. Barely able to use his Bankai to give Ichigo this new form.

Ichigo looks at the sleeping child.

But maybe, this way, trying to win the war before it even starts - maybe it’s the best path. His Kisuke lost the ability to truly smile - if he had still been able to, before the war started, before he took all the guilt for his own. The blood of millions dead at Aizen’s bidding, and more lost with the extreme measure the C46 came up to deal with everyone-not-Gotei was not his burden to bear - but who had ever been able to stop Urahara Kisuke from doing something impossible?

* * *

He has a fever, he knows, and maybe that’s what turns his dreams so odd.

There are ruins. Tall buildings of glass and metal and stone, broken and degraded. Destroyed.

Rain. Endless, pouring cold rain.

A sun and moon that move up and down and around, never going high into the sky, occasionally glimmering through clouds. Always a morning or an evening, dawn or dusk.

The rain never stops.

* * *

He needs to exhaust his reiatsu, Ichigo quickly comes to realise.

Like trying to fit a pond’s worth of water into a single balloon, the kid’s soul is just not strong enough yet to anchor him, to play host to that much power. That’s why they had aimed for a few decades later, when Kisuke should have been strong enough to contain that much power.

But this early - the kid can’t do it - physically can’t. The power will burn him from the inside out unless it’s released.

The problem is that he can’t go far from Kisuke - can’t try opening a garganta to Hueco Mundo, can’t fly far, far away and try to kill a mountain or something. Or Aizen. Tracking him down now _would_ be a pain - he’s hidden too well, somewhere in the lower ranks of the Gotei, and probably doing his best to be as far away from them as possible.

The bond puts a distance limit on their separation - an irritatingly _small_ one, for now.

Which is why he should probably go do something very, very stupid.

* * *

“Unohana-taicho, I think it might help my shinigami if I used up our reiatsu in a fight.”

* * *

For such a kind, gentle woman, it’s amazing how brutally she takes him down, wiping the Fourth’s training ground with him. Thank gods he can regenerate missing limbs even without her help.

* * *

It works.

For now, Kisuke gets better.

* * *

If Ichigo wants the kid to be able to survive being in Aizen’s vicinity when the fight eventually happens, he needs to get stronger. _Much_ stronger. And Ichigo, unfortunately, can’t teach him kido or swordfighting or anything - not in the real world, at least. Being a lizard has its disadvantages.

Well, not that he could really do those things well in human form, either - he had compensated for anything to do with techniques and knowledge with sheer brute force and speed.

This is a problem that will need solving.

* * *

“Are you okay?” Ichigo-sama asks quietly, golden eyes fixed on him.

Kisuke thought that the dragon hadn’t noticed him waking up after yet another nightmare - but of course, they’re connected. This is probably not something he can hide, even if he does not want to bother his spirit.

“I am in good condition, Ichigo-sama.”

The dragon sighs. “I told you, just call me Ichigo.”

“I understand, Ichigo-sama.”

* * *

They have a routine, now, of sorts. Kisuke does whatever Yoruichi does, usually, following her to tutoring sessions and training and being permitted to spend his free time with her again, and his Zanpakuto followed them like a bodyguard. Scratch that, he _is_ their bodyguard. And he also stops either of them trying to sneak out of the Shihouin compound to pursue any of Yoruichi’s more _fun_ ideas, since sixty feet of loud grumpy lizard is not the most inconspicuous thing in the world.

No matter what Yoruichi tries to bribe him with to be smaller, quieter, and less determined to keep them out of trouble. The result of which is that Ichigo-sama managed to win the approval of most of the compound because no one has ever managed to keep Shihouin Yoruichi out of trouble with this much consistency.

Every other day they go to a training ground where Kisuke can watch Ichigo-sama and Unohana-taicho fight to near-death, and after that have Unohana-taicho check up on him, smiling at him and treating him… he’s not sure what to call it, honestly, because he’s not sure anyone’s ever treated him quite like Ichigo-sama and Unohana-taicho do.

Being the center of so much attention is _odd_. No one’s ever _cared_ this much about keeping him alive. He’s never been this _important_ to anyone, except Yoruichi _._

His former mentor gives him dark looks every time they meet - which isn’t often. Kisuke’s never caught him at it, but he’s pretty sure Ichigo-sama has threatened to eat him at least twice. He doesn’t understand why.

Honestly, he still doesn’t understand what he’s done to earn the favour of such a powerful spirit. Doesn’t understand why Ichigo-sama talks to him so much, why he’s so interested in Kisuke’s halting explanations of useless theories on how to create kido-based fireworks like the Shiba, wild ideas how to weave reiryoku into messenger butterflies, inane thoughts of things whose purpose isn’t something useful like combat or protection.

Some days it feels like nothing makes sense.

Often, when they’re talking, Kisuke can feel irritation and frustration and _anger_ from Ichigo-sama, and tries to be politer, quieter, more restrained - but it never works, and those conversations end up dying into an awkward silence. And when he lets slip out excitement or a wild idea, he’s never _reprimanded._  Ichigo-sama just feels… amused, but also _sad_.

Kisuke doesn’t understand any of this.

Ichigo-sama is unlike anyone he’s ever met.

* * *

Drawing into the Inner World, Ichigo lets himself snarl and growl in irritation. Talking to the kid is- very frustrating. Whoever instilled that “speak only when you’re spoken to” mindset in the kid deserves a good burning, in his opinion. Kisuke just… never says anything, never tells him about shit, and Ichigo doesn’t even know what to _ask_.

It’s like the kid didn’t have a life outside his missions and training.

And fuck, the _training_.

If there wasn’t a risk of repercussions or drawing too much attention from the C46, there’d be a whole bunch of Onmi members fried to a crisp by now. Or torn apart. Possibly literally.

Lighting cracks the sky, striking one of the buildings, lighting up the place with an off-green light.

* * *

He can’t train him. But there’s a place where Shinigami get trained.

And it’s been a couple of months. The kid is… better, now. Somewhat. Ichigo still catches him with too many nightmares, the kid still refuses to talk about a lot of things.

Really, he’s just like Ichigo’s Kisuke was. Minus the scars.

“Since you’re no longer in the Onmi, why don’t you go to the Shinigami Academy?”

* * *

Kisuke and Yoruichi going to the Shinigami Academy is just as hilarious as Ichigo thought it’d be.

Half the students scramble to bow to the heir of the Shihouin Clan. The other half scramble to get away from the dragon glaring over Kisuke’s shoulder at anyone who so much looks at Kisuke wrong - that is, when they’re not gawking in amazement at the fact that there’s a dragon walking around.

Really, you’d think the novelty would wear off.

The history class, at least is interesting enough - even if Ichigo usually only ends up being able to shove his head and neck through a convenient window or door to listen in - but his inability to take notes is kind of off-putting, and often as not he just ends up taking naps in courtyards or on roofs.

Kido classes are interesting to watch just because of Kisuke. Yoruichi, too- but Kisuke is what makes them _fun_.

Because the Onmi had taught them kido use, obviously, and they were so far ahead that they were moved to the highest class. But Kisuke just _has_ to take everything to the next level. Sometimes, Ichigo entertains the thought of telling him what his future self got up to.

But Kisuke doesn’t need any more _encouragement_ to accidentally blow up half a building again.  
It's only been eight days since they got to the Academy.  
And yet it took just one tiny little kido class to get Kisuke and Yoruichi moved to the highest tier class for the subject, their knowledge clearly _leagues_ above everyone else's in the starting class. And then it took only one over-powered spell for Kisuke to earn the reputation of walking trouble.  
...At least the two had been put through tests to check their aptitude in the other classes after that, because Ichigo sure doesn't want to see what would have happened in starting-level Hakudo and Hohou classes. The first year students do not deserve that.

* * *

He’s not sick anymore, Kisuke knows he isn’t - not with the frequent spars with Unohana. He might not have a proper sword, but that doesn’t seem to deter her from wanting to teach him how to use a nodachi, just like she does.

But he still dreams of the strange world of broken buildings and endless rain - except now, sometimes, he sees hints of grass and moss and flowers. Like life is reclaiming the world. Like the scars across it are starting to heal.

For some reason, in his dreams - he’s always, always alone.

* * *

“Urahara-san, you are to be reassigned to a shared room - please, pack your things to relocate soon.”

Kisuke keeps his expression blank. He’d been assigned his own room for now, yes - perhaps due to a request from Shihouin, perhaps due to the fact that all the other students were much older than him.

Perhaps they want someone to keep an eye on him, see that he’s not doing anything he’s not supposed to.

* * *

Ichigo doesn’t understand the change in location - maybe the place has better access to the outside? They’d had to deconstruct half a wall after Ichigo offered to do it for them, so he could poke his head into the room.

Wherever they’re going, it seems to be _away_ from where most of the students are situated.

He follows Kisuke, helpfully carrying the packed-up contents of their former room, leaving Kisuke to carry the most delicate of the experimental fireworks. Which, Ichigo is sure, they’re technically not supposed to have in here.

* * *

When Ichigo sees Kisuke’s new roommate, he almost snorts with laughter.

Of course. He should have guessed.

Clearly, the academy wants to keep all the trouble-makers in one basket, limiting the location of potential fires, explosions, and other accidents to one place.

Because even with his ears still-present and the face-paint absent, the blue-haired teenager can be none other than Kurotsuchi.

* * *

“Does he ever go into your Inner World?”

“Yes.”

“When you do, does he vanish here?”

“I don’t know, I never know when he goes.”

“How much power does it to maintain him? Where is your sword? What’s his actual name?”

Ichigo watches Kurotsuchi quiz Kisuke, barely giving him time to answer before asking the next question, and shakes his head.

He didn’t get more patient with age, did he.

* * *

Kurotsuchi Mayuri is… a very curious person.

Kisuke’s not quite sure what to think of him.

He’s rude, for one - and possibly one of the rudest, most irreverent people Kisuke’s ever met, seemingly not able to care about rank any more than absolutely necessary to not get in trouble.

Even a dragon is barely enough to make him speak politely - which, oddly enough, seems to just amuse Ichigo-sama.

He’s pretty sure he’s never going to introduce Kurotsuchi to Yoruichi.

Kurotsuchi keeps the oddest hours, just like him.

But… Kisuke thinks he doesn’t mind his roommate. Kurotsuchi seems to be just as interested in his ideas as Yoruichi and Ichigo-sama - except he can offer even more ideas, more knowledge, more theories.

He _is_ useless at hand-to-hand combat though, which, Kisuke supposes, he can help Kurotsuchi with.

* * *

They don’t give Kisuke an asauchi, which annoys Ichigo. Sure, he’s pretending to be Kisuke’s Zanpakuto - and Kisuke can even draw on Ichigo’s own power reserves, now, to augment kido to be more powerful than he can manage himself. It really is a very believable lie.

But he’s pretty sure he’s not _actually_ Kisuke’s Zanpakuto. He’s not _Benihime_ \- and he doesn’t want to take her away from Kisuke, ever.

Which means he needs to get Kisuke an asauchi.

Except, _he_ hadn’t needed an asauchi. He had Rukia’s sword initially, sure, but afterwards he had simply… _manifested_ Zangetsu. But, then, he had already had the remnants of White to become his Zanpakuto spirit.

Kisuke’d probably need an asauchi to bond with or whatever to manifest Benihime.

Shit, what a mess. It’s not like a sixty foot long lizard can discreetly steal one for him, right?

Okay. Maybe he should teach the kid to go into his Inner World. He has one - maybe Benihime is already in there somewhere.

That should be _some_ kind of start, right?

But it’ll need some cleaning, first. Probably.

Anyway, it's only been like two weeks at the Academy. Maybe they'll relent on the Asauchi thing eventually.

* * *

Kisuke’s Inner World is a mess, and Ichigo doesn’t know if it should be that way, or if it’s something Aizen had done. Or if it’s his own influence.

The sky above is dark with heavy clouds, and the rain is near-constant, to the point that there’s a layer of water over the ground.

It’s impossible to tell what used to be here - there’s rubble and dust and shards of metal and glass everywhere. Literally, everywhere - glittering, eerily glowing shards hang eve in the air, hinting at the former presence of buildings or structures or _something_.

Almost like whatever has been here before had merged with Ichigo’s own Inner World and then _exploded_.

He sighs.

The rain is his fault, isn’t it. It’s been raining in his own world for a long time before he left.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Always happy to hear from you, dear readers!


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